Starships
"Starships" is a song by Nicki Minaj from her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded. The song serves as the lead single of the album. It was written by Onika Maraj, Nadir Khayat, Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Wayne Hector, and it was produced by RedOne, Carl Falk, and Rami Yacoub. It was released as a single on February 14, 2012, premiering during On Air with Ryan Seacrest. A music video was filmed for the song on March 13 to March 15, and premiered on April 26, 2012 at 7:56 pm on MTV. "Starships" includes Dance, Pop and Rap vibes. It is considered a follow-up to her 2011 smash "Super Bass." Since its release, the song has stayed in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 21 weeks passing records for her single "Super Bass" of 15 weeks making it the #1 song of most consecutive weeks in the Top 10 of the chart ahead of The Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feeling" with 20 weeks. The single has been certified 6x Platinum in Australia, 3x platinum in the US and Mexico, 2x platinum in New Zealand, Platinum in the UK, Switzerland, and Peru, and Gold in Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden. The single has sold 3.8 million downloads in the US making it the 5th top-selling song of 2012. It is also the 5th top-selling song in the UK. Background "Va Va Voom" was planned to be released as the lead single of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded on February 7, 2012,Va Va Voom release date: 02/07/12 Retrieved September 16, 2012. but the release date was delayed to February 14. http://gfa.radioandrecords.com/publishGFA/GFANextPage.asp?sDate=02/14/2012&Format=1 VVV release date change] Retrieved September 16, 2012. Instead of it, "Starships" was released as the lead single, on February 14. A day later was announced that "Starships" will be released instead of "Va Va Voom" by Ryan Seacrest on On Air with Ryan Seacrest.Twitter: [https://twitter.com/nickiminaj/status/168957264827396096 !!!! ---> RT @RyanSeacrest: Talking to @NickiMinaj tmrw on @OnAirWithRyan, then will premiere new single "starships" Tuesday] Retrieved September 23, 2012.Minaj talked about the song on the show: The song premiered on the show on February 14, 2012, and a few hours later was available for digital download on Itunes. In an interview with Wayne Hector (one of the writers) he explained how the song came about: Artwork The single cover artwork was revealed a day later of the single release, on February 13.''Twitter: Premieres tmrw!!! > RT @TeamMinajFresno: RT @kingsleyyy: Um @NICKIMINAJ I don't think they're ready!!!!!!! #STARSHIPS http://twitpic.com/8jkm8x Retrieved September 23, 2012. A photo shoot was made for the cover artwork called "Starships photo shoot." The photo shoot was later used for the cover artwork for "Pound the Alarm." Composition "Starships" was produced by RedOne, Carl Falk, and Rami Yacoub. It is a multi-genre song, which heavily utilizes eurodance, europop, euro house, and electropop while also incorporating other genres such as pop, dance, reggae, pop rock, and hip hop.Wikipedia: Starships_(song)#Composition Retrieved September 23, 2012. The song has been compared to her international hit "Super Bass" by some critics.Nicki Minaj :: Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - Cash Money Records Review by Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania from RapReviews.com. Retrieved September 23, 2012. The song features basic synth and drum-machine presets.Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Review by Matthew Cole from Slant Magazine. Retrieved September 23, 2012. The song has been compared of some works of others artist such as LMFAO's "I'm Sexy and I Know It," Rihanna's "We Found Love," and songs of Britney Spears, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga songs.Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Young Money/Cash Money Review by Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 23, 2012.Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Review by Ryan Dombal from Pitchfork. Retrieved September 23, 2012. Critical reception The song received generally positive reviews from music critics. Jesal Padani from RapReviews.com gave the song a very positive review saying that it "really hit bull's-eye", calling it a "undeniable joy" and a "gloriously uplifting anthem." Padani compared the song with "Super Bass", calling it a "less cheesy version." Andy Gill from The Independent (UK) included the song in his "download this" list, along with "Marilyn Monroe, "Champion", and "Young Forever."Album: Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday Roman Reloaded (Island) Review by Andy Gill from The Independent (UK). Retrieved September 23, 2012. Jessica Hopper from Spin called the song "fun" but said that "until she raps out that verse, she could be anyone."Nicki Minaj, ‘Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded’ Review by Jessica Hopper from Spin. Retrieved September 23, 2012. Alex Thornton from HipHop DX said that the song "is perfectly designed for the increasingly popular House-inspired Dance Pop scene." Nicki Minaj Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Review by Alex Thornton from HipHop DX. Retrieved September 23, 2012. He admitted that the song, though isn't bad, is wrong because of Minaj not being making Hip Hop. Jody Rosen from Rolling Stone called the song "thumping" and said that is "the most shameless Rihanna-wanna-be song ever recorded" but also agree that is "worthy of the ambition." Matthew Cole from Slant Magazine gave the song a very negative review saying that "Minaj isn't much of a singer, and not much of a lyricist either" and obviating that "if something is in the sky then it must also be inspiring", referring to the chorus of the song. Ryan Dombal from Pitchfork said that the song appears "to be born out of a creatively hobbled beer company's marketing team (...) rather than Nicki's gloriously odd brain." Music video Background On March 5 a fan asked Minaj if there will be a video for "Starships" and she quickly replied "Yes. Of course Barbz. Don't be silly."Nicki Minaj @NICKIMINAJ: [https://twitter.com/nickiminaj/status/176800134401757186 Yes. Of course barbz. Don't be silly ---> RT @SarahJaneTM: @NICKIMINAJ will there be a video for Starships soon Nic??] 4:43 pm - 5 Mar 12 The video was filmed on the beaches of Hawaii by director Anthony Mandler from March 13 to March 15.Rap-Up.com Video: Nicki Minaj – ‘Starships’ Retrieved September 22, 2012. On March 21, a fan asked Minaj when the video will be released and she respond "a week and a half."Twitter: A week and a half> RT @SineadMaraj_LK: @NICKIMINAJ #AyoNicki wen we guna get the #starships video? Retrieved September 23, 2012. On April, with the video still unreleased, more fans asked Minaj when the video will be out but no one of the dates that Minaj said were true.Twitter: This WEEK!> RT @MinajWord: @NICKIMINAJ Any idea of when we getting the starships video? I NEED that pink bikini in my life! Please answer:( Retrieved September 23, 2012.Twitter: Top of nex wk!> RT @hannah_jt98: @NICKIMINAJ I'm sick and tired of not being noticed. When will the music video for "Starships" b able to c? Retrieved September 23, 2012. She had an interview with Ryan Seacrest on April 5 in which she commented about the video delay: "We still haven't put the video out! I'm going to kill Anthony Mandler! I'm trying to get the video out in like a couple more days or else Anthony Mandler will be missing. I love the song and I can't wait. I think the video is going to come out in — I'm hoping and praying — within the next 5 days."Nicki Minaj Talks ‘Starships’ Music Video & Collaborating With Chris Brown Thursday, April 5, 2012 Retrieved September 27, 2012. Unfortunately, the video won't came out "the next 5 days." On April 25, the video was officially announced to be released on MTV on April 26 at 7:56 pm EST.Twitter: The Starships video premieres tomorrow on MTV @ 7:56pm EST. Retrieved September 23, 2012. The video premiered on VEVO a few hours later.Twitter: RT @VEVO: #StarshipsVIDEO @NICKIMINAJ http://vevo.ly/IfUPpX Retrieved September 23, 2012. Stills Starships_still_1.png Starships_still_2.png Starships_still_3.png Starships_still_4.png Starships_still_5.png Starships_still_6.png Starships_still_7.png Starships_still_8.png Starships_still_9.png ''Behind the scenes'' On March 14, during the shoot of Starships' video, many photos were taken from the shoot which features Minaj with a pink bathing suit in many scenes.NickiDaily.com PHOTOS: Nicki Minaj Shoots ‘Starships’ Music Video in Hawaii Retrieved September 23, 2012. nicki1.jpg nicki02.jpg nicki03.jpg nicki04.jpg nicki05.jpg nicki07.jpg starshipsbeach.jpg starshipsjungle.jpg starshipsmountain.png starshipsisland.jpg starshipsset.jpg starset.jpg Live performances Minaj performed the single live for the first time on February 26, 2012, along with "Moment 4 Life", "Turn Me On" and "Super Bass", at the 2012 NBA All-Star Game. On March 29, 2012, she performed the single on the eleventh season of American Idol results show and on The Today Show on April 6. She later perform the song, along with "Super Bass" and "Right by My Side" at the Nokia Lumia 900 launch event, the same day of the Today's performance. Minaj performed the song in a mash-up with "Right by My Side" at The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 10, 2012. The single was also performed by Minaj on her Pink Friday Tour. Credits Recording: *Recorded at: Kinglet Studios, Stockholm, Sweden and Conway Studios *Mixed at: Conway Studios, Los Angeles, CA Personnel: *Writers: O Maraj, N. Khayat, C. Falk, R. Yacoub, W. Hector *Producers: RedOne and Rami & Carl Falk *Recorded by: Trevor Muzzy & Ariel Chobaz *Recording Assistant: Jon Sher *Mixed by: Carl Falk, Rami, and Trevor Muzzy *Mix Assistant: Jon Sher *Vocal Editing by: Trevor Muzzy & Rami *Additional Vocals by: Mohombi, Wayne Hector, and Carl Falk *All Instruments by: Carl Falk, Rami & RedOne *Guitars by: Carl Falk The credits for "Starships" are adapted from the liner notes of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded.Digital booklet of Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Release history Lyrics Explicit version Radio clean version *Note: The original lyric is "Onika" but is censored on radio because they think she says "the n word".Twitter: They thnk I'm saying the n word > RT @eskrupz: @NICKIMINAJ girl why did they block out 'Onika' on the radio version of starships? Retrieved October 21, 2012. References }} Category:Songs Category:Singles Category:Videos Category:Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded Category:2012 Category:Spotify tracks